International

Gay couples in England and Wales will be able to marry [CORRECTION:] next year, following action by the House of Commons yesterday approving marriage equality legislation. As a formality, the final word will come from the Queen – how appropriate – who is set to sign the bill into law, although the date has not […]

On Monday and Wednesday of this coming week, legislation to allow same-sex marriage in England and Wales will go back before the House of Lords for consideration in what is called the Report stage. The next step is the bill’s Third Reading, scheduled for July 15. Assuming passage, it returns to the House of Commons, […]

On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada heard oral arguments in Bedford v. Canada, in which several sex workers are challenging three laws related to prostitution (prostitution itself is not a crime in Canada): • Bawdy-House Laws, which make it illegal to operate or be found in a place used for prostitution. These “anti-brothel laws” […]

Russia’s State Duma has passed legislation by an overwhelming majority that provides for fines to be imposed for the expression of pro-gay views by Russians and imprisonment and expulsion in addition to fines for such actions by foreigners. Duma officials have stated that they will enact amendments to the Russian Family Code next week to […]

The General Assembly of the Organization of American States has adopted the long awaited Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance, along with a parallel Convention Against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance. The first, more general document, prohibits discrimination in public and private life on numerous bases, including sex, sexual orientation, […]

Many news reports have noted that the British government announced plans to seek an equal marriage law, but I have seen no press on the remainder of the statement: that the government intends to keep civil partnerships – available only to gay couples – off limits to different sex couples. This is a slap […]